Spray Sprites team of young windsurfers will be gunning to retain a national windsurfing trophy for the South East when they compete at the Team15 Champions Cup grand final this weekend (12-13 October).

The Sprites youngsters, who qualified for the national final after clinching the regional Team15 title last month, will travel to Pitsford Reservoir in Northampton to pit their wits against the eight other regional winners over two days of competition.

Last year, Sprites’ South East rivals, the Hythe Hotshots from Kent, were crowned 2012 Team15 Champions Cup winners, and the Eastbourne youngsters have only one goal as they prepare for this year’s grand final showdown.

“Sprites would like to win the Champions Cup for the first time ever,” admits Craig Coupe, chief instructor at Spray Watersports and Sprites Team15 coach.

“They would like to be able to keep up the reputation of the South East being a very real challenger at the Champions Cup. They have been training hard and are looking forward to getting to the Champions Cup and give it their all there. 

“The Champions Cup is a great way to get all the kids from across the country together with a real sense of achievement of being there. They all have similar interests and it introduces them to the formalities of more serious racing.”

Team15 is the RYA’s youth windsurfing development programme making windsurfing more accessible and appealing to kids aged 15 and under at grassroots level. The regional Inter-Club Challenge Series takes place over the summer adding a competitive edge and race training for those keen to hone their skills.

Amongst the ones to watch for the Sprites at Pitsford will be Megan Kraft, who won all four regional events in the 3.5m2 fleet this season, and Louis Miles-Coppard, who has been equally dominant in the 4.5m2 fleet. 

Luke Williams will also be looking to finish up the pecking order in the 6.8m2 fleet having made great improvement this year

.It has already been a memorable year for the Sprites with a Sport England grant enabling the club to invest in new kit, to help their young windsurfers better make the transition from beginners’ kit to intermediate kit and hopefully progress to harness and footstraps. Sprites invested in some new Ezzy sails and RRD boards with the funding.

There are more than 80 Team15 clubs nationwide. Fun and informal Team15 sessions are held weekly, kit can be borrowed from the clubs and the cost of sessions is kept low.

For more information about getting involved at Spray Sprites visit www.eastsussex.gov.uk/spray while more details about Team15 can be found at www.rya.org.uk/programmes/team15 or contact 0845 345 0400.